Archives for July2013

Dokku Umarov calls on the Mujaheddin to prevent the Olympics from occurring in Sochi. This, in turn, will provide the Russian security services the justification to do just about anything to prevent a terrorist attack.

The Express Tribune – July 3, 2013

MOSCOW: Russia’s top fighter Doku Umarov called in a video released on Wednesday for fighters to stage attacks against a range of targets that include the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.

“We know that on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many Muslims who died and are buried on our territory along the Black Sea, today they plan to stage the Olympic Games. We, as the Mujahedeen, must not allow this to happen by any means possible,” Umarov said in a message posted on the kavkazcenter.com website.

Russia hopes to make the 2014 Winter Olympic Games into a showcase event that highlights the economic and social strides that the country has made under President Vladimir Putin.

But Sochi is located in the immediate proximity of Russia’s North Caucasus – an extremely volatile region that has witnessed two post-Soviet war in Chechnya and daily violence in republics such as Dagestan.

The Russian authorities ordered added protection for Sochi after the April Boston Marathon Bombings that were blamed on two ethnic Chechen brothers who spent parts of their lives in Russia.

Interview on BBC World Service Newshour, June 24, 2013
Dagestan and Boston special

Interview for a BBC NewsHour Special Edition on the Boston Bombing and the situation in the North Caucasus, a live simulcast from Boston and Dagestan, includes a rare interview with Zubeidat Tsarnaeva (Tamarlan and Dzhokar’s mother), imams from the mosque Tamarlan attended in Dagestan, Russian officials, and more. Broadcast on most NPR stations throughout the U.S. and worldwide on the BBC World Service.

My portion of the interview begins at 35:06 but I suggest listening from 26:30 to get the full context.